http://linuxbrit.co.uk Tom Gilbert's LinuxBrit. Software releases and personal blog. Wed, 07 May 2008 13:12:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You'd think all the time I spend bored in airport lounges lately, I would remember to update my blog... I just got back from San Francisco - I was attending TUCON [1] and this time managed to spend a full week there. I love that place so much. Conference was good, and had lots of fun in the evenings too. Places we ate (mostly paid by vendors yay): Aqua [2], Tadich Grill, North Beach Restaurant [3], One Market [4] and The Cheesecake Factory (the one overlooking Union Square) :-). Also got a chance to explore the city a little bit this time. So I am back for a couple of weeks but then I am off again on my travels. First Singapore for a week, then a few days in Germany, then New York for a week. Basically I am all over the place at the moment. I think I will just close my eyes, and think of the airmiles... [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://tucon.tibco.com/ [2] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.aqua-sf.com/ [3] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.northbeachrestaurant.com/ [4] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.onemarket.com/ http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2008/05/07/travel-madness/ ...but only just! They closed the airport on approach due to snow storms, and we circled for quite some time before being allowed to land. But this is great, we didn't get any proper snow in London this year so it's cool to be here in Boston where there are currently 3-4 inches of snow on the ground :) http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2008/02/23/in-boston-for-the-weekend/ [1] So I'm back in New York again - but not for long. I do love this town though, and this time I brought my camera! Oh and last week I was in San Fransisco (yay) but only for 20 hours (what?!) :-) [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2191578630 http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2008/01/16/travel/ From me to all of you, merry christmas and a happy new year :-) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] See the full xmas photo album on my flickr profile [12]. [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139300759/in/set-72157603551318948/ [2] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139221715/in/set-72157603551318948/ [3] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2140074670/in/set-72157603551318948/ [4] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139954202/in/set-72157603551318948/ [5] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139239523/in/set-72157603551318948/ [6] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2140041968/in/set-72157603551318948/ [7] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139235877/in/set-72157603551318948/ [8] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139290135/in/set-72157603551318948/ [9] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2140039062/in/set-72157603551318948/ [10] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2139310135/in/set-72157603551318948/ [11] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/2140087924/in/set-72157603551318948/ [12] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/sets/72157603551318948/ http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/12/27/holiday-postcards/ Finally got a project done. Unbelievably, the kitchen is still not finished, but that's another story. All the fencing around our garden (especially the extended area out the back) was perished and needed replacing, plus we had an asbestos-filled crumbling garage back there which needed tearing down. It's all done, and the fence is replaced with a nice looking and solid border. Check out the pics [1]! [2] [3] At last, we finished something :) In case you were wondering, it used to look like this: [4] [5] [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/sets/72157603445051769/ [2] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/2106855890 [3] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/2106850524 [4] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/79443076 [5] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/79445657 http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/12/13/re-fenced/ Wow, I am behind. I still owe you all updates on a load of topics. Vegas, work, life, the house, and so forth. So much to do. Work is going well lately but is incredibly demanding, to the point that although I am on top of everything in the office (by working 6 days a week), I am probably running about 2 years behind right now on real life. Maybe more. I'll furnish with more details as I find the time - right now I'm putting some time management skills into practise to try to free up time to do silly things like... update this page. I don't have a PA a the office yet (one day!), but in the meantime I have set myself up with a fake one courtesy of iwantsandy.com [1], which is a really cute idea. It's very reminiscent of the "remind me" plugin I wrote for rbot back in the day (see the bottom of this example session [2]), but email based and much more functional. I approve! Maybe it will help me a little bit to manage my time and get personal stuff done occasionally. [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://iwantsandy.com/ [2] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://linuxbrit.co.uk/rbot/wiki/ExampleSession http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/11/19/iou-10-updates/ Whoops, long time no post. Since the last post I've been continuing to cycle lots, and my stamina and overall fitness is improving lots. I've spent some time with family (not enough but some). I also spent 2 weeks in New York working in the Wall Stree office. While I was in New York the exchange rate was at an all time high (2.06 or so) and so I took the opportunity to do some shopping! One of the items I picked up was a pair of specialist Mountain Bike shoes, with built-in cleats that clip onto special pedals. They're brilliant - they really increase the power and control you have riding - they're especially helpful uphill. I also took up running while I was there, mainly because I couldn't take my bike with me but I still wanted to get some exercise. Unfortunately, as usual for me I overdid it. I'm not very patient with slowly building up to things so I pushed myself as hard as I could and did myself a knee injury :P So apart from a touch of joggers knee (which is killing me right now) I am slightly fitter than when I last posted, but by the time my knee is better I might be back to square one ;) Work is still getting the better of me, has been all year, but I will soon have a holiday at last - I have booked 2 weeks in September and I'll be going to Vegas with some of the guys from work. It's going to be great :) We'll be spending 8 nights in Vegas, one night in the Grand Canyon, camping and a couple of days in LA on either side. I find myself collecting hobbies lately - not only am I cycling and jogging but I just started playing golf at the weekend (purely at a very very amateur level) and after playing with Matt's the other weekend I picked up a digital SLR camera and decided to learn to take proper photographs :) Sometimes my flickr stream [1] is more up to date on my daily activities that this website so here are a few samples from it: [2] [3] [4] [5] [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giblet/ [2] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/album/72157600840917619/page/1/photo/821878589 [3] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/1032840248 [4] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/1032926494 [5] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/1044613776 http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/08/12/catching-up-2/ Did a couple of rides this weekend, trying to build up my fitness. Yesterday I rode 10 miles and today I managed 18. My favourite new GPS gadget (a garmin edge 305 [1]) faithfully recorded my travels - here's the map for yesterday [2], and here's the map for today [3]. Today was a nice route, I ended up cycling along the Thames path, around the Millennium Dome and out to the Thames Barrier. Very scenic. By the way, I recently succumbed to peer pressure and created a Facebook profile - so if you're on there, feel free to reach out. [1] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FMNY38/linuxbrit-21 [2] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3234198 [3] http://linuxbrit.co.ukhttp://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3244422 http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/07/08/bike-riding/ [1] It's been a busy couple of weeks, time to catch up. Week before last I got to meet my new nephew, Rufus! Check out the picture, he's a little sweetie. Very quiet and cuddly! Last weekend we took my little brothers to Legoland as a treat, and I think they enjoyed it. Legoland is pretty cool - I enjoyed the rendition of central London in Lego especially, although the boys were more interested in the driving school and the roller coasters :) Photo gallery below. I got my new bike, and have been riding it. It's been 10 years since I owned a bicycle - I had forgotten how much energy it takes and I am definitely out of shape :) So far I've been managing at least 30 minutes each day, except for last week when I was traveling. Last week was full of travel - I was in Frankfurt on Monday/Tuesday and Milan Wednesday/Thursday, both for work. It was my first ever trip to Italy, but unfortunately I didn't get to explore it much as it was such a short and busy business trip. It was very hot while I was there - 32C - definitely more than I am used to :P Anyway, having arrived at 8pm I had just enough time to leg it down to the center to take a couple of pictures of the Duomo, as you can see below :) [2] [3] [4] [1] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/612646031 [2] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/show/recent/photo/613260688 [3] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/album/72157600466166139/ [4] http://linuxbrit.co.uk/photos/album/72157600466420739/ http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/06/24/catch-up-of-the-last-fortnight/ My sister Laura just had her baby, late Saturday evening! It was a boy, and his name's Rufus :-) I get to meet him this week. Well done sis! http://linuxbrit.co.uk/blog/2007/06/11/im-an-uncle/